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Finding time to quilt every day

It’s fall, and that means spending more time in a classroom than at my sewing machine. I teach journalism and advise the student newspaper at my alma mater. We’re not talking going back to school after a summer off. We’re talking about working eight or nine hours at my main job at an ad agency, […]

Quilt retreat!

As you read this I am happily sewing away at quilt retreat. The semi-annual get-a-way is hosted by my guild, the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild and it gives me four days of (mostly) uninterrupted sewing and quilting. This is the first time I’m going for more than just the weekend in three years, so I’m […]

Quilt Retreat progress report

Life has been a little nuts since I returned from quilt retreat two weeks ago. I’ve barely touched my sewing machine, which is why I love going to it twice a year for three days of completely uninterrupted sewing time. I had a pretty hefty to-do list when I left, and I’m happy to say […]

‘More Custom Slipcovers’ not for beginners

I’m not a novice when it comes to creating slipcovers. I’m working on recovering a patio set, but in that case I just removed the cover, took it apart and used the fabric as a pattern to cut and sew my new slipcover. The techniques inĀ “More Custom Slipcovers: Easy to Make and Snug-Fitting” by Marge […]

In flight entertainment

Most people take a good book with them to occupy themselves during a flight. I take a small sewing project. I took my dragonfly wall hanging with when my husband and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. I finished the top during the MANY hours we spent in the air, but haven’t worked on […]

March quilting goals: How’d I do

It’s time for the monthly accounting of how much I set out to do verses what I actually accomplished. I had a pretty productive month, although as usual it wasn’t quite as productive as I’d hoped it would be. Finish nursery sewing I hoped to make a crib skirt, bobby covers and fabric baskets. None […]

October Block of the Month

We’re nearing the end of the 2015 Block of the Month. This month we’re starting to work with the blue fabrics. We’ll use them again next month, then finish up with the purples in December. This month we’re making a bunch of, you guessed it, half-square triangles. The individual blocks are not that difficult to […]

March quilting goals

I feel so behind. Here we are almost a full week into March and I still haven’t set my quilting goals for the month, or sewn a stitch outside of the Block of the Month class I taught last Saturday. Finish nursery sewing March is going to be dominated by baby nursery sewing. I’m down […]

When it’s OK to use fusble web for applique

I’m kind of an applique snob. I’ve tried just about every method known to man and have come to the conclusion that, in my humble opinion, to create heirloom applique you should use the spray starch method and stitch the edges under with teeny tiny stitches in a neutral colored silk thread so they will […]

After quilt retreat: Batik tree skirt

I spent 25 hours working on the batik tree skirt for the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild’s tree in the Festival of Trees fundraiser next month. The first seven were spent cutting the fabric. The pattern and templates were all on paper. I had one chance to cut the templates right so I had to take […]